Training Log - Friday, December 9, 2011

Last run before the big race tomorrow. Schedule called for 2 easy miles, so I met up with Richard after work for an out & back from his house at Five Points. That little hill near his house combined with the cold air made my lungs burn, even on that short 2 miles. Felt good overall. Gonna give it my best shot tomorrow, as long as my ankle holds up.

Training Log - Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Today was my second to last training session before the 2012 edition of the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, Alabama this Saturday, and before I took to the streets for my workout I made a tough decision. My sub 3:15 hour BQ attempt that I had trained for so diligently (until my ankle injury at Dizzy Fifties) was off the table. Instead, I decided to set myself three different goals. First, I would shoot for a 3:25 hour finish. If I felt good after 20 miles, I would try to pick up my pace. If I felt bad, which was much more likely considering I hadn't been able to do a long run in almost 4 weeks, I would just try to PR (which meant any time under 3:36 would suffice).

Training Log - December 1, 2011 (Plantation, Florida)

Rather than risk another annoying encounter in the hotel gym, I decided to go for a run outside and instead of driving to the beach, I opted to just run from the hotel in an effort to follow Runner's World's advice in its latest "go green" tips for runners.

Training Log - Wednesday, November 30, 2011 (Plantation, Florida)

My newest accessory...courtesy of a strained peroneal tendon.

Unfortunately, I keep accidentally rolling my ankle when I'm just walking around and forgetting that I still have a weak ankle, but it isn'r really painful. I'll just continue to "actively" rehab my ankle. I didn't get to get my run in today until after it was dark and since I didn't know the local area very well, I decided to just hit the treadmill for the workout of the day.

Training Log - Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Success! I took my first ginger steps this morning on an easy 4 miler. I met up with Rich at 6:30AM for a slow 4 miler around the UAH campus. This would be the first test of my ankle and the new ankle brace. I am happy to report that I was able to run only with slight discomfort that was mostly caused by the actual brace, not by the injury. However, I also realize that I will not be able to run without a brace or some other stability device any time soon. I just hope I'm able to continue to run and train, period.

Training Log - Thursday, November 17, 2011

I definitely needed my music today. It's been kind of a crutch for me, since I hadn't been doing a lot of solitary running workouts until just recently, when I started to training for a BQ marathon time at Rocket City.

Training Log - Wednesday, November 16, 2011

My training schedule called for a slow 8 miles at sub 8:30 pace. I had waited until after I got home from work to get today's run in. The weather was not pleasant in the morning with showers, thunderstorms and tornado warnings looming, so I opted for an afternoon run.

Training Log - Tuesday, November 15, 2011

First off, I'd like to thank AC/DC and Die Fantastischen Vier for providing the entertainment during today's workout and for pushing me to complete the workout as required. While most of you are familiar with the first reference, the second reference will only be familiar by my friends & family back home. The last few weeks I have been relying more heavily on music to keep me going during my speed workouts. While in the past I've been running with my usual running buddies without the use of music, the usual suspects (you know who you are) have either been slacking or busy doing other things or just taking a well deserved break. As a result, it's been "back to my roots", doing my training runs on my own most of the time and utilizing music to keep me going through the tougher workouts.

Training Log - Thursday, November 10, 2011

I was struggling to make it out of the door for my run this morning. Temperatures had dipped into the 30s and I wasn't really digging the cold just yet. After a short internal discussion between myself and I, it was decided to just get it done. My training plan called for a one mile warm up and a 4 mile brisk run at sub 7:18 pace followed by a one mile cool down.

Training Log - Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Today called for a slow 9 miles at sub 8:30 pace and luckily, James texted me last night to see if I was up for an early morning run. Everyone else was tied up otherwise somehow and we were both confident we could run 9 miles at the target pace together.

Training Log - Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Alarm went off at 5:30AM, I was out the door at 6AM. Rich was a no show due to stomach problems. Mt training schedule called for 3x 2 miles at sub 7 min pace with 400m recovery jogs and a one mile warm up and cool down.

Training Log - Sunday, November 6, 2011

Thanks to daylight savings time, I got an hour of extra sleep Saturday night and it was much needed. My alarm went off at 5AM. I had devised a plan that allowed me to get my long run in without interfering with my family activities. My son had a state cup soccer game that morning in a neighboring city so I figured I'd get a head start on the trip and run to the game.

Training Log - Friday, November 4, 2011

After I completed my toughest workout to date at 7PM last night, I received a text from Rich asking our running crew to meet at 5AM for our favorite Monte Sano "hill workout", starting our run at Five Points up Bankhead Parkway and onto Tollgate Trail all the way to the Ranger Station on top of Monte Sano State Park for a nice 10 mile out and back. This run is basically 5 miles up the mountain followed by 5 miles straight down the mountain on some seriously technical trails.

Training Log - Thursday, November 3, 2011

Today was the toughest workout yet on my current marathon training schedule. The plan called for 12 miles at sub 7:36 pace, which is actually faster than my previous half marathon PR from 2 years ago. Yes, it has been indeed two years since my last half marathon. I have been running at least one ultra marathon per month over the last two years, but road half marathons and marathons have been few and far between.

Training Log - Wednesday, November 2, 2011

The workout for this morning came at me faster than expected. Even though I did yesterday's workout in the evening, I had no choice but to do today's workout in the morning due to other family activities this evening. That meant a shorter than usual break between workouts.

Training Log - Tuesday, November 1, 2011

I decided to move Monday's session to today. Thankfully, it was a fun. My training plan called for 6 mile Fartlek plus one mile warm up and 1 mile cool down for a total of 8 miles. I decided to do it after work to give myself yet another opportunity to sleep in just a little in the morning.

Training Log - Sunday, October 30, 2011

Today's workout called for a slow 20 miles at minimum 8:30 minute per mile pace. Not what I would call slow, but I neeed to stick to my marathon schedule. Richard wasn't in the mood for 20, so I decided to run from my house to his to add 4 miles and to do the same on the way home to add another 4. That left us to run 12 together.

Training Log - Thursday, October 27, 2011

Once again, I opted to run in the afternoon. That also allowed me to convince Rich to join me. Little did he know that my training plan called for a fast one, one mile warm up followed by 4 miles at sub 7:18 minute pace and a one mile cool down.

Training Log - Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Today, I waited until after work to get my training run in. I hate procrastinating and postponing my runs from the morning to the evening, but I just didn't feel like it this morning. I got home just before 5pm, changed into my running clothes that I had already laid out, grabbed my old and trusty 305 and took off.

Training Log - Tuesday, October 25, 2011

5:30AM came fast this morning, even though I'd adjusted my sleep schedule to ensure a full 8 hours of sleep. It didn't help that it was getting colder by the day. Then again, today's training plan would require hard effort and colder temperatures would probably help us not overheat too quickly.